University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Purchases Shares of 47,203 Morgan Stanley $MS

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 47,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,380,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.2% of University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said the firm sees room for substantial growth in its wealth-management business, highlighting a long runway in that segment and reinforcing the company’s long-term earnings story.
• Positive Sentiment: Trading in Morgan Stanley options picked up, with call volume running above average, which can signal increased investor optimism around the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also remained active on the research front, including new price-target actions on multiple companies and broader market commentary that pointed to a continued bull-market backdrop.
• Negative Sentiment: One Morgan Stanley analyst downgrade on Accenture and a cautious note on Morgan Stanley Direct Lending may slightly temper sentiment around the firm’s research calls, though these were not direct hits to Morgan Stanley’s core earnings outlook.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. CICC Research lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MS opened at $217.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $343.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $194.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.34. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $129.66 and a 52 week high of $220.60.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.